Halo: Acts of Valor
by Drake S. Hellion
Summary: ONI Section III often employed Spartan-III Commandos for High-Risk operations. Spartan Team Noble is one such team but it is not the only team that has been sanctioned by Beta-5 Division for their private operations. Pulled from Beta to lead Spartan Team Valor, Darius-B254 leads Valor against the odds when they discover a Covenant artifact that could change the tide of the war.
1. Prologue

**Halo: Acts of Valor**

**Prologue**

**March 24, 2545. (Military Calendar) 1200 Hours.  
Zeta Doradus System, Planet Onyx. Camp Currahee Observation post.  
**Lieutenant Commander Kurt-051 "Ambrose" stood beside Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez inside of Camp Currahee's main observation room where he and the Chief often watched the Spartan-III teams during their training exercises and today was no different from the usual schedule for the LT. Commander and Senior Chief as the three dozen monitors tracked several teams of the Spartan-III Beta Company as they manoeuvred through the thick brush of the forest they had been deployed to for their weekly game of Capture the flag against a team of three dozen hand picked DIs made of veteran soldiers and the "washouts" from Alpha Company as they attempted to defend their flag from the three hundred and fifteen members of Beta.

So far however it had been bad for the teams Romeo, Oscar, Bravo, Alpha and Gamma had been "killed" so far by the DIs thanks to their Alpha Company leaders. Kurt had predicted this and knew it was because of the natural sense of competitiveness that he drilled into the Spartans during their training that made the Alpha DIs such a challenge for Beta as they had the same training and know-how as their opponants. It definitely showed during this test.

Kurt sighed when Charlie was ambushed and "killed" by three well placed DI teams, two of which were lead by Alphas. "Still three hundred and twenty-seven to be cut before graduation day," he muttered more to himself than Mendez. "I'm a little disappointed."

Mendez stared at the monitors before looking over to his superior officer and friend. "You can't blame them, sir," he said with a shake of his head, "This is the first objective based op they've been deployed on against the Alpha DIs and they must be caught off guard…" he sighed then. "But you are right, there are a few washouts in the litter."

The LT. Commander nodded and lifted his gaze back up to the monitors to resume his observations when something in one of the upper right monitors caught his eye. He looked at it more intently and saw several DIs get stunned by three flashbang grenades that had been laid on the trunks of trees with their trip cables tied to the trees roots…of which the second DI in the formation had tripped.

Before any of the four could recover they were pelted by stun rounds from their left flank and from the way the had collapsed Kurt guessed they had been shot at knee level where the armor was thinnest, once all the DIs were down several figures covered in makeshift camouflage suits made from grass, vines and mud emerged from the nearby murky pond with their M7 Caseless Sub-Machine Guns aimed at the writhing DIs in the grass.

Kurt blinked at the unusual strategy. No teams had ever tried to hide in the edges of the pond in that area before by covering their backs to match the edge of it, it was a new trick that Kurt would take note of for later reference. "Which team is that?" he asked.

He couldn't make out their faces due to the mud and leaves covering their front and the camera angle didn't help at all either.

Deep Winter, the Spartan-III programs "Smart" A.I appeared on the holotank as a glowing snowflake. He replied after a half second, "That is team Juliet."

"Ah, Juliet," Kurt murmured softly as he watched the team strip the DIs of their Semi-Powered Infiltration armor and ammunition. He counted only four of them however, "Where's the fifth member of their fireteam?"

His answer came in the form of a vine that fell between the group of DIs and a young boy rappelling down into their midst from the trees above. He wasn't covered in mud and grass like the others but his grey fatigues were drenched in sweat all the same while his dark hair was matted down.

"There he is," Deep Winter said with approval, "That is Juliet's team leader I believe. Should I bring up his program scores?" he asked curiously as the flake turned to Kurt.

Kurt nodded absently still watching as the boy gestured to his teammates to take the SPI suits and don them while he himself was left in his fatigues. He did however take one of the DIs MA5K rifles for himself along with two spare magazines. Once they had tagged the DIs as "dead" they moved off the camera.

Deep Winter spoke again. "I have his record, transferring it to your personal PDA for your personal browsing," he said lightly and turned to the monitors. He brightened after a moment as if proud to see the recruits doing well, even if it were a single team.

Kurt nodded. "I'll view it after the exercise."

Mendez spoke up shortly after, "I know that kid, Darius, Designation is B two, five four." He said, "He's one of the Spartans in the program who scored above excellent during the written leadership exams, seventh out of twenty-four."

Deep Winter agreed. "Ah yes, I remember. He did note in his exam that he had a flair of creativity."

Kurt hummed thoughtfully. "How old is he?"

"Eleven," Deep Winter replied easily, "Born on Eridanus. We found him in an orphanage on Reach where he signed on with the program along with fifty-six others."

Eleven and creative? Kurt knew that could be a good or bad combination depending on how creative he got if it meant taking bigger risks and the role of leadership he had taken up as Juliet's fireteam leader. Most interesting indeed.

* * *

Darius ducked low beneath some thick brush when he felt eyes on him, eyes that hopefully had not seen his team in their newly acquired SPI armor. He turned slightly to the blurred shifting shadow at his eight-o-clock that he knew was Kimberly-B074, "Psst," he hissed softly. The blurred head lifted to him and he gave her the "fall back" signal.

She nodded, tapped the figure next to her and slowly they fell back further into the brush as quietly as mice on a silent night and when Darius couldn't spot them anymore he turned back to the path ahead and moved into a crouch while raising his MA5K to sweep the area slowly to try and spot any signs of more DIs in their SPI armor. A difficult task to do with ones bare eyes.

He swept over the area again before lowering his weapon with a breath. "Nothing out here," he muttered and turned, "Better get back to the others." He took a step forward only to have the barrel of a weapon pressed to his back and a voice hissing to him.

"Don't move, squirt," The voice held a bit of venom. "Drop the weapon, right now."

Darius gulped once, took a breath and waited a heartbeat before he dropped his rifle to the ground with a clutter. A sharp hiss to the right that could only be a suppressed MA5K caught his ears and Darius ducked when the man holding the weapon to his back grunted in pain. Once he hit the ground he grabbed his discarded rifle, rolled onto his back and proceeded to spray the blurred figure above him with full automatic fire to the groin and stomach.

The man fell back. Two more blurred figures moved after Darius before they too went down as his positioned Juliet team fired from the right flank of their formation in short controlled bursts of fire in a repeat of the first team of DIs who had fallen for their tactics.

And like before they were rewarded with more spoils of war. Darius grinned slightly, revealing a pair of missing upper teeth from a fight he had gotten into two days before, and slid the SPI helmet over his head. The suit was loose on him but it didn't matter. "Alright," he opened a private com to his team, "Time to get that flag."

His team shared a brief laugh before they quieted themselves and proceeded to move through the thick brush and towards the DIs flag zone. Roughly seventeen minutes later Juliet arrived on the outskirts of the grassy field where the DIs had placed their flag platform in the center. Darius stared at the waving red fabric as it fluttered in the breeze as if taunting him to rush in and get it. But he wasn't about to do that now after he had come so far, he wasn't going to rush ahead.

There was a soft whistle to his left and Juliet raised their weapons to the sound. Slowly a young boy of about twelve with hands raised appeared from the brush with a nervous smile, "Whoa, calm down there, Juliet." he said as he showed them his M7.

Darius stared down the sights of his rifle before giving a nod to his team. They lowered their weapons and he asked, "You're with Foxtrot, right?"

"Yeah, I'm Min," The boy replied with a nod as he lowered his hands, "Saw you skulking over and thought I'd say hello," he paused with a thoughtful expression before adding. "And to tell you that my team leader wants to speak to you since you're one of the few teams who made it past the DIs hunter teams to get here."

Darius considered Min's words carefully since it could be a trap for his team because he knew some of the other teams weren't above using other teams as distractions or bait for ambushes if meant giving themselves an edge in the exercises. But if Darius remembered correctly then Foxtrot's team leader was a good kid named Tom, a boy with a spirit of fire and guts that scared even Darius.

The Juliet leader nodded and turned to his team. "Wait here for me, if I'm not back in five, assume they," he pointed his thumb to Min, "Set me up." His team nodded and Darius turned back to Min, "Lead the way."

Min lead Darius along until they came to the south side of the field outskirts where several others were gathered in a circle while four others stood on guard duty while the meeting took place. Darius knew most of the teams gathered, Foxtrot, Victor, Delta and another team he didn't know.

There was easily twenty-five Spartans if you added the teams together. Min gestured to the meeting circle, "Over there, I have to get back to guard duty," he gave a grin before moving off to the right flank with his M7 in hand.

Darius quickly joined the meeting circle and found out they were the fire team leaders and discussing how best to take the flag from the DI defense team, they had also been apparently waiting for one more team before they attempted to take the flag just to tip the number odds in their favor.

"So, what exactly is their defense like?" Darius asked Victor's Fireteam leader, Samantha-B010.

"Tom can tell you, Olivia was the one who did most of the recon," She replied with a nod towards Tom, "Fill him in, I can vouch for his skill." Samantha was fourteen and one of the oldest Spartans in Beta and she commanded massive respect from others since she had single handedly beaten down two DIs in hand-to-hand training.

Tom nodded then turned to Darius. Surprisingly the fire team leaders were decked in their fatigues only so he guessed they had chosen to sneak past the DIs rather than ambush them, a clean strategy if lacking daring. "Well, Olivia scouted eleven of them positioned around the field in trees and in the thick brush, their positions…" Tom took a stick and began to draw a TacMap in the dirt.

Darius noted he was no artist.

"Here, here and here…" he listed off their positions on poorly drawn dirt map, "Olivia suspects there are also DIs hidden in the grass near the flag, but we can't be sure about that since she couldn't move into the field to check. All we know is that if you look at their positions they have good overlapping fields of fire across the field. So a direct approach would be suicide."

Darius agreed with that assessment. The DIs were dug in tight with every intent to ensure Beta failed this objective game, but Darius and the others were Beta Company and more so they were going to be Spartans. In order to do that was to pass this test and God so help him they were going to do it.

"So, what are you all thinking?" he asked.

"A three pronged attack," Samantha replied flatly as she took the stick from Tom, "My team and Delta will move in from the right and attempt to take out the sentries," she crossed out the circles that signalled hostiles on the map. "Meanwhile, Foxtrot and Victor will go right at the same time with the same objective." she looked up to Darius seriously, "And that's where your team comes in. You all have SPI armor, right?"

"Yeah…" Darius had a guess where this was going. She wanted his team to sneak up the middle of the field and when they began their assaults they were to open fire on the now pincered DI teams from their sixes.

She explained what he had thought a moment later. "I know this is a big risk for your team, but…" she stopped when he raised a hand.

"We'll do it, just make sure your teams don't screw up," he gave a cocky grin and hefted up his MA5K. "Alright?"

Tom and Samantha shared his grin. "Sure."

They bumped fists and parted ways to execute their plan of attack.

Darius returned to his team and explained the situation to them in detail. Connor was the firs to speak, "Sounds like a plan," he said logically. "But… are you sure we can trust them?"

"We're one big team, Cons," Darius replied with a nod. "Remember, our position ensure they get through the firefight quickly to get the flag, plus I can vouch for Samantha and Tom, they won't stab us in the back."

"I'm with Darius," Kimberly said from her place, unpolarizing her faceplate. "It's our best shot. I say we take it."

"Alright," Connor shrugged and slipped his helmet back on. "Lets do it."

"That's the spirit," Darius grinned behind his visor. "Lets move out, Juliet." They nodded, turned and skulked into the thicket with their armor shifting to match the scenario and turning them into chameleons armed with rifles and SMGs.

It took Juliet seven minutes to reach their position at the edge of the field in the grass without being spotted by the DIs on sentry duty. It took an additional five to hear the signal of a single M7 shot from the right followed closely by more bursts of weapons fire as the firefight began.

Darius lead his team on their bellies further into the field a good five yards before he stood and shouted, "Open fire!" He raised his MA5K and fired a burp of suppressed fire at the treeline where Tom had said two hostiles were stationed. He wasn't sure if he was hitting anything but he fired nonetheless while Juliet joined him and focused fire on the left side with Kimberly aiding him in firing at the right.

Two blurred figures lifting from the grass near the flag caught his peripheral vision and he commed his team, "Twelve-o-clock!" he shifted aim while falling to his knee to allow Kimberly to swing her own weapon over his head. They opened fire and the two DIs went down as they were peppered by stun rounds to their upper bodies.

The forest around the field slowly quieted down until one last burp of machinegun fire echoed out. Then silence reigned over the area with only the gentle rustling of the grass by the wind was the only sound that Darius heard sides his beating heart.

"Clear!" He heard Tom yell from the left flank.

"Clear!" Samantha called from the right side.

Darius grinned and put his hand to his mouth and yelled, "Clear!"

Victor, Delta, Foxtrot and Zeta moved out from the tree lines and towards the flag in loose V formations. Darius took Juliet up with them and together the five teams reached the flag, the team leaders shared a nod and they wrapped their hands around the metal pole in triumph.

They had won.

**End of prologue**

**There it is people! My newest pet project that has been in the works since Halo 4's reveal now being publish for the first time today! Now, please review, tell me what ya think and show your support as I have a good feeling about this story. Thanks for reading and good day!**


	2. Chapter I

**Chapter I**

**June 26, 2545. (Military Calender) 0500 Hours.  
Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach. GLADIUS Base.  
**In the pure white cleanliness and order of the UNSC GLADIUS Base Spartan-B254 felt only discomfort as he sat in the center of a silent meeting room. Looking around he spotted only a window and the door he used to get in, side those two things the only other objects in the room were the simple steel chairs and table he was sitting in for what felt like hours now even though his internal clock only put it at roughly fifteen minutes.

In fact this whole situation made him uncomfortable. Exactly seventeen hundred hours ago he had been with the rest of Beta Company aboard the UNSC Destroyer Hot Seat on standby until NavSpecWar Command issued the Company another mission that pit them against the UNSC's foes that they could, yet again, conquer when suddenly he had been called to the bridge.

"_Spartan-B254, reporting, sir!" He saluted the Captain._

_The Captain nodded and returned the salute. "At ease, Spartan," his voice held the southern accent he had heard from Vice Admiral Stanforth. "We've just received a tier one priority message from ONI headquarters all the way from Earth…addressed to you." The Captain reached into his pocket and brought out a data chip and held it out the Spartan._

_B254 blinked once in surprise before he held out his hand and took the chip. "Sir," he said before leaving the bridge to return to his quarters to view the message on his personal console. Once he reached his room he turned to the three dozen Spartans in their bunks, as much as he hated to ask them to leave their comfort he spoke up._

"_Priority one," He flashed them chip and they stared briefly then stood with understanding nods and left the room. The door locked behind them and B254 slid the chip into the console then opened the message._

**United Nations Space Command priority message transmission 09844D-88  
Encryption Code: **_Black  
_**Public Key: **_Excise Omega  
_**From: **_[CLASSIFIED]  
_**To:** _Spartan Beta 254, Fireteam Juliet leader.  
_**Subject: **_[CLASSIFIED]  
_**Classification: **_RESTRICTED [BGX Directive]_

_/_**START**_/_

_Spartan-B254. I don't need to tell you who this, just that recent events concerning _**[CLASSIFIED]**. _The UNSC Prowler _Cyclops_ is en route as you read this to retrieve you and return you here to _**[CLASSIFIED] **_base on Reach. I'll meet you there in debriefing room 7B-L9. _

_Don't be late._

_/_**END**_/_

And after reading the message B254 barely had ten minutes to tell his team and officers that he had been summoned away by ONI to Reach before the Prowler arrived and brought him to GLADIUS base where it seemed he always being watched. Whether by the staff, the cameras or even the simple white walls that felt like they were watching him didn't to anything to ease him one bit.

It didn't help when the shadows themselves felt like they were watching him too.

Another few minutes ticked by and B254 fought back a sigh of relief when the door finally opened again to allow a single person entry. B254 wasn't exactly patient when it came to waiting for people and he sure wasn't one for being kept waiting when he had been perfectly punctual. Lieutenant Commander Ambrose's lectures and mental exercises only did so much over the years for entertainment in slow moments.

The man strolled leisurely over to the second chair across from the Spartan and stood beside to observe B254 with an appraising stare. When the man's Colonel bars pulled into view on his right breast the Spartan stood fast and snapped off a salute that made the man's lips twitch slightly. The Colonel raised his hand and returned the gesture before speaking.

"Spartan, my name is Colonel James Ackerson," He said simply. "I suppose you have questions about why you're here and not out on the front with the rest of your company. Well, those will have to wait until after I ask you a couple of questions of my own," he took seat comfortably. "That won't be a problem, will it?"

Spartan-B254 dropped his salute, sat down and listened to the Colonel speak and replied when the man asked his question. "No sir."

"Good," Ackerson sounded like he would have asked anyway if B254 had said 'yes'. "First, you are Spartan Beta two-five-four, correct?" The Spartan nodded. "Your service record notes your actions during three particular operations in the outer Colonies against the Covenant." the Colonel continued in thought, reading off a datapad he had brought with him. "Your service record is, like all your company, very commendable and you'd easily be Master Chief Petty Officer by now."

B254 blinked. He knew he was a great Spartan, hell. All of Beta was filled with skilled and lethal individuals who could outgun, outrun and outwit B254 in some form. He wasn't the best, but he also wasn't the worst. He didn't dare question the Colonel yet despite his curiosity however.

"Your name, Spartan?" Ackerson raised his brow.

"Darius, sir." B254 replied briskly.

"Darius-B254," Ackerson nodded and leaned forward in his seat towards the Spartan with his elbows on the table and fingers entwined together while he levelled a calculating gaze on the Spartan. "Now, Darius. Before I go any further, any questions?"

Darius nodded. "Sir," he considered his first question. The most obvious, "Why am I here?"

He couldn't really place why exactly he was here. If this Colonel was interested in him it had to be for a good reason other than to just ask a few basic questions and review his combat record with Beta Company since high ranking UNSC brass didn't drag Spartans off the front for light reasons other then the most important of subjects.

"You're here because of your service record, Darius." The Colonel replied with that same simple tone. "It stands out and you're noted in your psyche evaluation to be resourceful and creative in every tough situation you've faced so far. A capable leader, in short."

B254 nodded, he knew that as well. He had been fire team leader of Team Juliet since Beta first came online and sent out into the field against Insurrectionist and Covenant alike, he was often praised by other Spartans for being a top notch shot-caller in the field. Again the situation still didn't make any sense to him so he asked his next question.

"Am I being reassigned?" He asked bluntly. No point in dancing around it.

Ackerson blinked once and nodded a moment later. "You are, you'll no longer be working with Beta Company out in the field, you'll instead be working under another section of the Beta five division as squad leader for a team who's recently lost their original. Spartan Team Valor."

"Valor?" Darius' brows raised. "I wasn't aware of such a team."

Ackerson nodded. "Naturally, they're specially handpicked teams comprised of Spartan-III commandos with outstanding records who are deemed to valuable to be wasted on general deployments with the Companies and such are put into small wetwork teams under the direct command of Section III's Beta-5 Division," he explained. "I believe you might have heard of one such team, Noble?"

The Spartan took a moment to search his memory for Noble Team before he nodded. "Ah yes, I believe so, sir."

Of course he could recall Noble Team now that he had remembered a face that came with their name. Rebecca-B312, one of Darius' closer friends had been transferred right out of training to some out-of-company outfit she hadn't been authorized to speak of but had told him anyways out of their friendship.

She had been asked to run Black Operations for Ackerson due to her solo-act nature.

Thinking back on it now, Darius realised with humor how much she would have liked that since she wasn't much of a team player at heart. He almost asked Ackerson where she was if only to hear she was alright and kicking Insurrectionist and Covie ass.

Ackerson nodded and slid a Datapad over the table to him. "Here's the team."

The Spartan picked it up and looked it over. The Team's Sharpshooter was William-A145, tech and communications belonged to Riley-B344. Heavy Ordnance and Demolitions expert was Micheal-B211 and Valor's tracker and Hand-to-Hand specialist was Miranda-A087. Darius frowned as he observed the two from Beta Company. B211 and 344 were both washouts from the Company who had failed to qualify for further Spartan training.

He thought to question the Colonel on this fact but rethought the idea after scrolling down and checking their service record as a team. Under the leadership of previous team leader, Adrien-A327, they had successfully handled well over twenty-nine ops over the last five years. A dozen against the Covenant and more against the Insurrectionists. However, their leader had been killed during their more recent operation in the outer colonies after they destroyed a Covenant mining outpost that had been the staging area for low level raids in that sector.

Shame, thought Darius upon seeing the previous leaders record, he had been one hell of a Spartan. He continued to read along the pad to take in as much information as he could since he could tell this wasn't an offer, it was strict orders that he transfer to this team and take command of it. This would be a challenge since he didn't know the members sides what their Psyche profiles mentioned in the pad and that wasn't helpful enough to paint an accurate picture of how manage them. He'd have to adapt to them pretty quickly then since they were on standby until a new leader was selected.

Darius put the pad down. "So," he began, "When do I start?"

Ackerson's lips again twitched. "Now," he replied as he stood and took the datapad back. "A Pelican will transport you to the team's designated barracks here on Reach," he explained lightly. "You'll of course be given a small time window to get acquainted with them. A week they're free to you to get them up to speed."

"Sir, Understood and thank you for the opportunity." Darius nodded even though he was more aghast then grateful. He was only being given a week to ensure a whole new team was operational with him as its leader? Unheard of in most cases but this was war and they couldn't afford to have five Spartans on Standby when the Covenant were ever advancing towards the destruction of the human race.

"Good," Ackerson nodded, "You're dismissed."

Darius stood and saluted once more before exiting the room and making his way down the white walled halls towards the same landing pad he had arrived on when he first got to this base. He took a breath as he went along, mind racing on how to handle this situation he was put into rather suddenly.

But, like always on the battlefield. He would fall into the situation, assess it and plan his moves accordingly. Only this time he would be facing the challenge of becoming a leader to a team he didn't know anything nor they about him in the span of a week so they could be combat efficient. Well, no daring, no glory. Right?

**End of chapter I**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed! I appreciate them. Here it is, the next chapter, hope it was worth the read!  
**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

**September 5, 2545. (Military Calendar) 1200 Hours.  
Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach. B-5D Armory M11**.  
Darius gripped the overhead railing of the Pelican dropship when he felt the craft start to descend steadily towards the Beta-5 Division M11 armory where he and his team were being sent for his new and first mission as head of Spartan team Valor. Turns out being the leader of a Spartan Fire team working directly under a Beta-5 spook had its perks and one such perk was the MJOLNIR armor.

MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, that had made the previous generation of Spartans legendary to the UNSC military and his fellow Beta Company Spartans. They had often been shown video feeds of the Spartan-IIs in their sage green armor engaging massive Covenant forces and coming out victorious time after time again in the name of the UNSC. Beta had studied their combat record, their tactics and fields of war. How they had won against overwhelming odds without casualties.

Every Spartan-III aspired to be like them and Darius was no different in that desire. Today he felt he was one step closer to that goal when he received his own suit of armor the second day he had met his team. The Pelican slowed to a dull hover over a landing pad in the center of a walled off courtyard to a semi-large bunker that he knew was the entrance to the underground armory.

The courtyard itself was fairly empty sides several parked M12 Warthogs next to the bunker. Their armored plates scratched and weathered by years of use and their mounted machineguns were replaced by loading beds. Hogs meant for transport.

The Pelican's rear hatch lowered with a hiss. "Move out!" He ordered.

William was the first one out of the Pelican onto the pad with his SRS99C Sniper Rifle at the ready. He targeted one of the guard towers across the courtyard from the Pelican through his Oracle scope. Next out was Riley and Micheal. They both carried MA5Bs whose barrels silently swept the ground area and they were followed by Miranda and Darius.

Once they had fallen out the Pelican's pilot announced. "Taking off to safe distance until extraction. Be safe Spartans." it lifted off and then disappeared over the wall.

All was silent as Valor checked their surroundings. Then at once they each gave a green light for the all clear and Darius quickly assessed the situation mentally. An ONI funded Armory had not reported in for hours and after a similar situation on another colony where a UNSC Armory had gone silent. The brass in the area chalked it up to communications malfunction and didn't investigate until after three hours passed, investigation team reported a good portion of the armory had been cleaned out. Vehicles, ammunition and weapons alike had been stolen. The UNSC personnel on site had been neutralised with three unaccounted for.

Weapons cases found at the armory were a mixture of assault rifle and magnum rounds. Indicating the Rebels had gotten bold and raided the armory for supplies. That was a huge step up from ambushing their supply ships in space where they could easily disappear in its vastness, but it made little difference since they had still gotten away.

ONI wasn't about to allow that to happen again so Valor had been pulled out of early R-n-R time to handle this case.

"Standard setup," Riley muttered as she raised a gauntleted hand and gestured to the antenna on the top of the bunker. It had been burned up by extreme heat, likely a torch or small scale thermite charge. "Not getting any com traffic either."

"Guard towers are empty." William added his own two-cents.

Darius frowned. There had to be well over two dozen armed and trained guards at this facility and this was Reach, the central hub of the UNSC military and by all rights the most secure location in the galaxy since this planet was the metaphorical Fort Knox of Humanity. Still, every fortress had backdoors and it seemed the Rebels found it.

"Alright, William," He turned to the sniper. "You and Mirada stay up here and guard the entrance, make sure no one gets in or out without my say."

"Sir," The pair nodded slightly.

"Riley," Darius continued turning to the last two. "You and Micheal are coming downstairs with me to secure the facility. If those Warthogs are any indication, I'm guessing the rebels didn't count on us paying a visit mid heist." he said.

The four armored Spartans before him all tensed in what Darius called excitement. After days of inactivity he could understand their eagerness to get back to the thick and dirty. He watched William turn away and move to one of the guard towers to take up a good position over the courtyard. Miranda moved over by the bunker behind one of the hogs for cover.

Darius, Micheal and Riley stepped into the large bay doors into the Bunker in a loose V formation with Darius at its head. Once they stepped inside Darius ordered them to secure the area, it was empty except for the seven bodies on the floor against one of the walls. Upon closer inspection Darius saw they had all been executed by shots to the head, brutal but painless. He could respect that.

"Got three more in the door control room," Riley reported over the com. "Casings suggest M6C handguns."

Darius found similar casings on the floor by the seven he found. "I have the same here, Micheal, what do you have?" he asked while standing from his crouch and tossing the 12.7 AP casing of a M6C handgun off to the side.

"Nothing yet," Micheal replied coolly. Darius had sent him to search the back offices for anything. "It's clear, regrouping with you." the com closed.

"Alright, first level clear," Darius commed William and Miranda outside. "We're going down into the main facility now, coms will be either inactive or choppy at best. If we don't report back in an hour, assume the worst."

Their lights winked green on his HUD.

"Riley," Darius and Micheal stepped over to the large elevator shaft in the center of the large bunker. It went below ground to the actual armory where Beta 5 kept some of the most advanced weapons for their Asymmetrical Action and other Spartan teams. "You got elevator control?"

"Give me a sec," she replied. Three seconds passed. "Now I do along with camera control." she reported, "Well, I got sights on four armed innies with an almost fully loaded elevator bed of goods. They're just finishing up the loading process, my guess is they'll be coming up shortly to load up their hogs."

Darius blinked. That was convenient in ways he couldn't fathom and the rebels didn't even suspect a thing, they were overconfident that they would be loaded and gone before the UNSC called foul play. Their mistake, "Alright, Micheal, take up a good firing position near the elevator, I'll do the same across from you." Darius ordered quickly. "Riley, once they start to ascend up to us, you take up a position near the elevator and on my signal we open fire."

"A regular turkey shoot," Micheal chuckled through the com. "I like it."

Darius agreed wholeheartedly. He loved getting the drop on his enemies and their surprise made taking their objective easier during training exercises and this would be no different. After a moment of preparation they were position for their ambush. Darius made sure they took down the four on the elevator efficiently so he had ordered them to switch to Frag rounds rather than the normal AP.

After two minutes Riley commed him. "Here they come, ETA is thirty-five seconds. Taking firing position now." Darius looked over to the control room and saw Riley take up a good angle position to the right of a support beam, she levelled her MA5B and waited patiently. Darius took a breath, in their sage green Mark IV MJOLNIR armor the shadows overtook them and made them almost invisible.

He listened to the elevator hydraulics carry the large loading deck up and finally the first signs of the Insurrectionists appeared along with their cargo. The four were armed with handguns and only one carried an MA3A, an older model assault rifle, for added firepower.

They were also relaxed. The leader with the assault rifle ordered one to bring a hog into the bunker so they could begin loading their loot and the man gave a light-hearted salute before turning to the exit.

Darius winked a green light and fired a three round burst from his MA5B. The rounds tore into the leaders upper back with spurts of blood, he crumpled forward onto the deck. Two more went down as they too took Frag rounds to their chest, the semi-explosive rounds shattered when they hit bone effectively turning into tiny fragmentation grenades inside the body. Their internal organs were likely slop now. The fourth reached for a radio, only reaching it halfway before the back of his head exploded in a shower of gore from one well placed shot from Micheal.

Four for four, a perfect score. "Riley, get that radio and patch into their com chatter. See if they heard that," Darius moved out from his cover and moved over to the loading deck and examined what they had been after. Riley moved over to one of the bodies and took its radio.

A moment of key tapping later. "I'm in," she informed them without looking away from the radio. "Chatter is garbled. Signals from below and up here ain't connection well," she tossed the radio aside and lifted her MA5B when the loading deck began to descend downward again. "Looks like they heard something." she said smoothly.

"Right," Darius looked to them both. "Alright, onto the elevator, we're going down." He waited until the pair were on the elevator before he explained his plan. "Once we go down to the lower level. Assume they are alert," he pulled two M4 Stun grenades, or more commonly known as Flashbangs, from his belt and held them up. "I'll toss these once they're clear. Should give us enough time clear a good portion of them before they start returning competent fire. We clear?"

Micheal gave him the thumbs up sign. Riley nodded. "Good, be ready. Anything past this point is to be treated as hostile. Shoot to kill." He hefted up his MA5B when a voice called out to them.

"What was the noise up there? Robert get jumpy!?"

The elevator slowly cleared the shaft and through the ever growing opening as they lowered into the room Darius identified seven other insurrectionists, five of which were readying more cases for the elevator while the last three were on lax guard duty. The man who had called out briefly caught the flash of the three golden visors before he opened his mouth to shout a warning to his fellows.

Riley's MA5B gave a burp of gunfire that shredded his face from the nose down. The others quickly reached or raised their weapons to fight back when two cylindrical objects flew into their midst and the more alert guards caught the design and tried to turn away as the two flashbangs detonated. Robbed of their sight and hearing the loaders dropped their crates and clutched at their ears while rubbing their eyes to try and clear them.

"Micheal, concentrate on the guards," Darius ordered. He raised his MA5B.

Micheal beat his order though, by the time he finished one of the guard who had been lucky enough to turn quick and only get deafened was about to open a full auto shower of lead on the Spartans was cut down by two well aimed bursts of Frag rounds, his upper shredded the man fell to the ground holding the trigger of his MA3A and spraying the wall beside him.

Riley hopped off the elevator and sighted a loader who was just getting his vision back. A single shot to the head and the floor behind him sported a new crimson paintjob. Darius lazily put two rounds through the two closest loaders.

Micheal put down the other two guards and after Riley executed the remaining innies Darius declared the loading area all clear. Darius stepped over the body of one of the guards and into the central security room that housed several monitors and consoles that controlled security measures across the armory. He frowned slightly, "Riley. Get into the system, recover any security logs that lead up to this. Me and Micheal will proceed further into the facility, give us a location of any hostiles you spot."

Riley stepped into the security room. Observed the three killed security techs in the corner of the room still on their chairs before moving over to the consoles with a quick word of assent before she was lightning tapping at the keys on the console in concentration.

Darius stepped out of the room and nodded to Micheal before turning to the double doors that lead into the main armory facility. Micheal ejected his half spent magazine in favor of sliding a fresh one home with a satisfying _click! _before following after Darius with his weapon raised.

The doors hissed open and the pair stepped into the larger room. Along the walls were cabinets and cases, closed and open, filled with ammunition and weapons alike. In the back Darius could even make out a crate marked "M9 HE Fragmentation" in bright white. Beside him Micheal let out a slow whistle.

Darius agreed. To a Spartan an armory like this was like akin to a child being free to roam a toy store. He grinned slightly behind his visor before he was back to business, "Keep your wits about you," he said over the com to Micheal before he swept the area again more slowly. There were support pillars placed across the room that could easily hide two or three people and with their positioning Darius and Micheal were at the disadvantage for a firefight.

"Go right, be thorough." With those orders Darius and Micheal split up down to each side of the room from the way they came inside and slowly made their way across it to the two other doorways at the end of it. Both were unlocked.

They cautiously passed the pillars and despite the half ton of MJOLNIR armor encasing their bodies they were silent as ghosts in the wind. Micheal reached the first door on the right, he pressed his back against the side of the frame and watched Darius to the same to the left door. He gave a thumbs up that he was ready to open and clear the next room.

Darius paused and commed Riley. "Riley, we got two doors here, where does each go?"

He waited for the reply for only a second before her voice filtered through his com. "The one you're beside leads to the bathrooms." The dullness of the tone revealed that she was really trying hard not to chuckle. "As for Micheal's own, that leads to the restricted materials armory. Hold." she went silent for two seconds. "Got three innies past the second set of doors down the hall when you enter it, looks like they're trying to cut their way into the restricted armory with torches."

"What are they packing?" Darius asked.

"Looks like commandeered MA5Bs and M6Ds," Riley reported, "Frag grenades on their waists. Body armor too, UNSC standard issue marine armor, looks new too. I'd recommend switching to Armor Piercing rounds before taking them on."

Darius nodded to Micheal and the pair ejected their Frag rounds for magazines loaded with 7.62x55mm FMJ/AP ammunition. The rounds packed a hell of a wallop and with the heavy weight of the MA5B the aim drift wasn't too unbearable combined with the MJOLNIR armor strength enhancing capabilities made them a match made in Heaven.

"Lets go," he tapped the door controls. They hissed open and he and Micheal stepped into the hall and moved down the corridor until they came to the set of doors. Darius sighed, he knew the M6Ds were loaded with 12.7x40mm AP HE rounds, so that even the hardened plates of their MJOLNIR armor would stop those if they were straight shots.

He looked to Micheal. The other nodded back and then, he tapped the door control and they hissed open. "Go!"

Darius stepped into the room, raising his MA5B and sighting one of the armored insurrectionists. Micheal stepped in beside him and did the same. They pulled their triggers when the men were halfway turned to face them, upon seeing their weapons the two guards leapt to the side in time for the opening volley of fire to only scrape their armor plated shoulders. The tech who had been trying to cut into the restricted armory section however was cut down.

The two insurrectionists took cover behind a pair of support pillars. Darius and Micheal were again at the disadvantage of having little to no cover sides two large trolleys, both of which were kicked over and ducked behind when one of the Insurrectionists returned a bout of retaliation fire forcing the two Spartans to duck down behind their respective trolleys.

Darius shrunk himself as flat to the floor as he could when the Rifles rounds punched through the half inch thick metal plating of the trolley bed, he grunted when one round pinged off his shoulder, he shifted more to the side. He glanced to Micheal who was in a similar situation since both insurrectionists had taken to pelting both their positions with fire.

A moment later a break in the rifle fire provided Micheal and Darius with their chance. Micheal crouched up from his trolley while Darius rolled from his, they levelled their own rifles and let loose a roaring stream of gunfire, pelting the pillars and floor with rounds. The two insurrectionists ejected their magazines, reloaded and waited for the break of their own.

Darius watched the ammo counter of his rifle count down as he held the trigger before he rolled back behind his trolley, he ejected his spent magazine, slid a new one into place and chambered another round. Micheal's rifle clicked empty and he ducked back down when the innies fired back again.

"This is getting tedious!" Micheal muttered through the com. Darius again agreed, he pulled a frag grenade from his waist and nodded to Micheal. Micheal nodded back and reloaded, gripped his rifle tighter and readied to suppress the enemy to allow Darius to throw the grenade.

A soft and ominous ping caught their ears before a M9 fragmentation grenade flew over between their trolleys and rolled to a stop in their sights.

Darius cursed and tried to roll away. Micheal outright jumped forward over his own trolley before a deafening explosion rang out. A wave of heat washed over Darius, prickling his skin beneath his armor before a massive pressure wave sent him skidding into the wall a few feet away back first. His vision swam and he shook his head to clear it while his ears rang.

He blinked stars from his eyes and when he opened them again there was a pair of armored boots in his view. Looking up he saw it belonged to one of the insurrectionists. Darius could see the grizzled expression, years of war in the mans dark eyes and blank expression, this man was a veteran. "Don't move, Spartan."

Darius saw his MA5B lay behind the mans feet. The man himself pointed a M6D at his visor threateningly. He settled for glaring at the man silently while raising his open palms to show he was unarmed, he waited for his chance to strike. At this distance he just needed a moment of distraction in the man so he could disarm him.

That distraction came when the man's partner flew across the room with a resounding _crack! _against the wall where he fell to the floor limp. The grizzled man turned his head. Darius' hands shot out, gripped the man's armed wrist and pulled him down so roughly the man's shoulder popped. He raised his other hand and slugged the man across the face. He hit the deck with a thud.

Darius stood, stared down at the man and aimed at him with the M6D handgun. He looked over to Micheal who walked into view with his MA5B in hand, muttering something about damned innies. "You alright?" he asked.

Micheal nodded. "Yeah, played possum, kicked him." he turned to the limp insurrectionist, then fired a quick burst into the man's skull for good measure before turning back to the one that Darius had taken care of. "You gonna finish him?"

"Nah," Darius replied, "I think command might like this one alive for a good long chat."

Micheal chuckled. "His unlucky day then," he turned to the dead tech, double tapped him then turned back to Darius. "Guess we're clear?"

"Riley," Darius commed their tech specialist. "Area secure?"

"Checking cameras…" A pause, "We're clear, sir."

"Alright, Micheal. Take him, will ya? And be extra gentle." Darius turned and walked out of the room to avoid seeing Micheal tossed the man over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before following after Darius back to the elevator room. Once they regrouped and Riley got the security logs from the console the three were on their way back up to the bunker complex.

A short ride later they stepped into courtyard where William and Miranda were waiting for them. "Hey boss," Miranda waved from her post, "How was the party?"

"Explosive," Darius replied flatly as he opened a channel to their extraction Pelican. "Pelican Foxtrot five forty-two, this is Valor. We're down here and need extraction. Have a POW with us too."

A moment of static. "Understood, Spartan. Coming in now, be there damn quick. Command will like that. Foxtrot five forty-two out." the com closed.

Darius turned to his team. "We're dusting off, command will send marines to secure this place once we're good and gone." He smiled at them, "Good work team."

"He's getting mushy," Miranda teased before she and Micheal bumped shoulders. A sign Darius knew was one of affection between them. Riley and William stayed silent, simply giving him a nod. He remembered how worried he'd been when he met them, that they would alienate him since he wasn't their original leader and while their was a certain distance they kept between themselves and him. It wasn't an extreme one that was detrimental to their unit cohesion.

He was their leader and they accepted it as best they could. So he accepted that.

**End of chapter 1**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

**September 11, 2545. (Military Calendar) 0900 Hours.  
Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach. CASTLE Base.  
**Doctor Catherine Halsey sat within her spacious office inside the seemingly impenetrable ONI fortress that was CASTLE base. Her eyes moved along each line of text as it appeared on screen, the files from her pet projects MJOLNIR and SPARTAN-II had taken up much of her time and continued to do so since she kept trying to improve upon them.

MJOLNIR for example. While the Mark IV variant was truly a work of art in itself to her it was just a stepping stone to her true creation, the Mark V Powered Assault Armor would be the pinnacle of her life's work thus far and the most tool available to her Spartans in the field. It would make them deadlier, faster and stronger then even the Mark IV suits.

But that was all still in the design and testing phase. The new shielding tech that had been reverse engineered from the shield gauntlets of the Covenant Jackals was still undergoing more failures than successes in its application for the Mark V. But the newly designed crystalline reactive circuitry that enhanced the strength and reaction time of the wearer was coming along smoothly so it was a bright side.

However, everyday her Spartans went without the new armor was another day they lacked another edge in a hellish struggle. She sighed once, reached over for some coffee and found her cup. She brought it to her lips and gave a soft sniff of it. It was cold, sighing she set it back down and said, "Deja, remind me to get a thermal mug one of these days, will you?" she muttered.

"Of course, Dr. Halsey," her personal assistant A.I, and Halsey dare say, close friend, Deja, materialised on the holotank next to the doctor's desk. Her glowing figure draped in ancient robes and tablet in hand. "If you want, I could place such an order now for express shipment?"

Halsey gave Deja a wry smile. "That's alright, Deja. I was merely being sarcastic." She sat up and gave a slight frown when she tapped into her MJOLNIR restricted documents. She felt something was off, she tapped a key and entered her password.

_**IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED…ACCESSING FILES. FILES ACCESSED**_.

She watched the data scroll across her console and the feeling that something was off was only further enforced by the fact that out of the all the times she had requisitioned for a suit of MJOLNIR to be created for her Spartans. It always left a trace of data, but something was missing here in the requisitions request area of the MJOLNIR data.

"Deja, do me a favor and find out if any other requisition orders for MJOLNIR armor have been issued then deleted, will you?" she murmured to her A.I assistant.

"Right away, ma'am," Deja's form shimmered and faded slightly while she worked on her task.

Halsey leaned back in her seat and considered the possibilities of why someone would request more MJOLNIR armor. Only her Spartans could use them without suffering fatal injuries like the poor marine who had first attempted to wear the armor in its initial testing stages. She shuddered, a side effect seeing the video she had yet to get over, before continuing to ponder who and why someone would want MJOLNIR armor.

There was always Ackerson, that Jackal of a man had it in for Halsey since she first proposed the SPARTAN-II program to the ONI Section III heads and went out of his way more than once to attempt to make Halsey's life hell. He could have wanted MJOLNIR suits in an attempt to make them useable for his Orbital Drop Shock Troopers so they could compete with her Spartans. Halsey scoffed at that thought, her Spartan's combat record since their deployment made the ODSTs look only like an impressive recruit to their mythical deeds.

So the idea of Ackerson wanted her MJOLNIR wasn't so far out there for her. Another possibility was of course some spook within ONI's darker corners attempting to either get a set of her armor for some up and coming scientist who has yet _another_ thesis on how to improve her designs, again this was a very remote chance as Halsey was, for all intents and purposes, the best at her own projects and every form of improvement they could try she had tested, double checked and retried again only for the same results. So that was out the metaphorical window too. The last option?

Someone else in ONI had created their own batch of Spartans and now wanted to arm them like her own without her knowing. This idea posed a lot more questions than the previous options since there were a lot more variables to consider, despite the unlikely odds of all three the creation of another Spartan group wouldn't be impossible. If they had access to her medical data, the right amount of funding and current generation technology it wouldn't be difficult to start a smaller program with a half-as-skilled scientist who specialised in the required fields of genetics, mechanics and bioengineering.

Halsey sighed and felt herself falling into her thoughts the more she considered the option. There was any number of people in ONI who would be delighted to have their own little group of Spartans at their disposal for whatever wetwork or intelligence operations. ONI was a very cutthroat group at its core. Someone always trying to outshine the others to become ever more important and affirm their place at the big executive table in the meeting room. Halsey smiled to herself, her place had been solidified with the combat record of the Spartans started getting really good and her once small budget was now large enough that if she wanted to build a new battle group of ship she probably could.

She also, on a more humorous note, wondered if anyone in ONI ever spat coffee out of their mouths when they saw exactly how much she was spending on her MJOLNIR and SPARTAN-II projects. But that was how it was, want the best you gotta pay for it.

"Ma'am?" Deja appeared again, looking a little winded. "I initially could not find any evidence of requisition orders for MJOLNIR, but upon further digging I did discover a tiny data trail that lead back to several classified files." she reported.

"Did you flash my clearance?" Halsey raised a brow.

Deja nodded. "Yes, and it was still classified."

That caught Halsey's attention, hardly any data concerning MJOLNIR was classified and with her clearance to restricted files concerning anything to do with projects MJOLNIR, SPARTAN-II and ORION there was little she wasn't allowed to know. So when a file concerning her MJOLNIR armor was classified to even her she knew something was going on behind her back.

"Where did the file come from?" she asked while leaning over to the Holotank to observe Deja.

"Office of Naval Intelligence. Section III, specifically a sub division called Beta-5," the A.I replied.

Beta-5 Division? Halsey had never heard of such a division within the ONI Section III and it immediately drew her attention and caution. "Deja, cover your tracks." she ordered while moving back to her console. What was Beta-5 Division? What did they want with MJOLNIR and why hadn't she heard of them before? These questions would bother her for awhile but she felt that she had to tread carefully here or there would be serious and severe consequences if certain people in Section III found out she caught whiff of this Beta-5 Division.

"Tracks covered, doctor." Deja said after her form fluttered, "Shall I also erase the data trail from the requisition files?"

Halsey nodded and closed the MJOLNIR files from her console. "Do so."

Deja nodded, flickered and gave a soft sigh. "Done."

"Good," Halsey set her console low power mode and let the screen dim while she leaned back into her chair with a weary sigh, suddenly tired. She raised a hand and straight out a ruffle in her skirt before staring thoughtfully at the mug of cold coffee on her desk while her eyes swirled with questions and possible answers she thought could be the case. But it all came back to one likely possibility.

There were other Spartans out there and they were involved with this Beta-5 Division of Section III. Also that any questions of this Division to the wrong people in her own branch of ONI could be fatal to both her life and career.

And Halsey hated to admit that it made the big secrets even more tempting for her to learn. She was already thinking of who she could go to for answers or at least a lead that didn't end with her on the short end of the firing block.

"Ma'am," Deja spoke up softly, "If I may ask, what are you planning to do?" she knew that look on the good doctor's face. It was the look she got before she did something that went against more than half the security and secrecy protocols established by ONI.

"Oh," Halsey smiled coyly at the A.I. "Nothing, Deja, nothing at all."

Deja's look was unconvinced but she didn't push the subject and instead nodded. "Very well, Doctor," she raised her tablet as lines of code scrolled across its stone-like surface. "Shall I order the thermal mug now?"

"Actually," Halsey said with a more chipper tone. "Do so, I think it may be a well placed investment." she smiled.

Deja blinked. "…At once, doctor." she said.

Halsey's smile brightened slightly at catching her assistant off guard. "And some music please." she added. She knew who to contact and confide these questions with in ONI, someone who had been her shield and sword as much as she had to them through the years she worked with this shady group.

"Any requests?"

"Yes. Debussy, _Les sons et les parfums tournent dan l'air du soir_, if you would." Halsey closed her eyes and after a brief half second after her request the mood filled pianos keys hummed over the room speakers and set her nerves at ease slowly with their soothing tones. "Thank you, Deja."

"You're welcome, ma'am," Deja nodded.

**End of chapter III**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

**September 12, 2545. (Military Calendar) 0700 Hours.  
Epsilon Eridani System, Eridanus II Star System. Heavy Frigate **_**Aurora**_**.  
**"_Attention all hands! UNSC supply freighter exiting slipspace! Combat teams one through three gear up and prepare for boarding actions! I repeat! Combat teams one through three gear up_!" Klaxons blared along with the voice over the intercoms as the Aurora's crew stepped into overdrive after almost a full day of waiting for the accursedly slow UNSC freighter to arrive in the system.

Elliot Mason had been with the Insurrectionists since he was sixteen years old, having joined after his mother had been killed during the UNSC's _brilliantly_ executed Operation: TREBUCHET he had watched his grief stricken father sink into alcoholism and drug abuse for nine months until one night he decided that living without the angel that was his wife wasn't worth it before blowing his brains out with an old nineteenth century antique revolver that had one more shot in it.

Left on his own Elliot didn't want to settle for staying with his uncle and aunt when he was so angry that he would probably just cause trouble for them on their small farm in Harvest. So, he had joined the Insurrection to fight the UNSC and hopefully avenge his father one piece at a time for every soldier of theirs he killed.

When the Covenant showed up and glassed Harvest. That had shaken him, even more so when he found out his aunt and uncle had never made it off planet before the UNSC pulled their forces out to allow those alien freaks to turn his homeworld into a wasteland of ash. He wouldn't lie to himself, he was bitter, angry and holding a grudge.

But without that grudge what else could he live for sides the memories of his dead loved ones? No thanks. He'd take killing UNSC dogs anyday to that sad lifestyle.

"Man…" Spoke Marcus Denning, his best friend. "Finally some action!" The younger man slapped Elliot on the back with a wide smile.

And despite the fact they were going into a hostile situation Elliot could feel his own excitement mounting as the arms master reached over the desk to hand them both their weapons when Elliot and Marcus stepped past the double doors that lead into the small corridor between the loading bay and main elevator where they received their weapons for boarding.

Marcus took his already loaded and cocked MA2B with a small groan since it was no secret he wanted a newer, more efficient model that the UNSC freighter would likely have aboard sides extra medical supplies and food rations for the nearby colony refugee shelters for the people who were too poor or unlucky enough not to make it to Reach or any of the inner colonies. "Typical UNSC bullshit" Marcus has spat when he and a few others were on shore leave at one colony and passing a refugee shelter that was over packed with the desperate and lost.

Those faces would always haunt Elliot in the back of his mind. The confusion, sadness and loss swirling in the eyes of the traumatized, mothers and fathers staring blankly at nothing while their children wept for their missing sibling of relative or the really unlucky ones who sat alone in the corners or shadows slumped over and silent. Already dead in their hearts.

Elliot had been there and back, he lost his mother to a botched UNSC operation and then he lost his father to the aftershocks of said Op and God forgive his soul he wanted revenge in the worst way. His grip tightened on the handle of his BR55 rifle that the Arms Master handed him, he checked the ammo counter. It was full.

He and his friend moved along to let the half dozen others behind them get their own weapons for the job ahead. "Don't worry, Marcus," he turned and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder of his combat armor. "I'm sure this shipment will have a rifle or two we can pilfer for ya." Elliot smiled.

"Hopefully," Marcus grinned jovially. "I'd kill for one."

"Probably will anyway," Elliot jabbed.

"Hah!" His friend laughed and soon he joined in. "Good one."

They stopped and looked at their luxury ride for the mission. A single Pelican dropship that they had liberated from an old UNSC base on a now glassed colony world, they had arrived in time to see the dogs run from the system with their tail between their legs but before the Covenant arrived. Much of the base had left over supplies, vehicles and ammunition mostly.

Now it was black as space with the saying "Innie and proud" painted onto the side with extra armor plating welded on. The rear hatch was down as technicians worked her over to get the bird ready for take off in a few minutes, Elliot saw the pilot step out of the rear and turned to him. Her figure was hidden beneath the black flight suit and her face covered by the helmet she wore but he knew from experience that her figure was fine.

"Hello, beautiful," He said stepping over to her with a lusty grin.

The pilot cocked her head and placed a hand on her hip before she reached up with one hand to remove the obstructive helmet and letting it hang at her side to reveal her short dark red hair, sharp green eyes and angular face which was in mock shock, "Haven't seen me since this morning and you compliment the bird before me?"

Her voice was smooth, teasing and it sent shivers down his spine. He found himself replying before he thought of a suitable reply, "What can I say? I can't think of a word to describe you," he moved forward and planting his hand on her other hip while he leaned down to try and steal a taste of her sweet, full lips.

She closed her eyes, muttering. "Romeo."

"Ahem!" They pulled apart and Elliot turned to glare at his best friend who was standing there looking sheepish, "Uh, guys… I know you two didn't have your morning lay, but please… making me and these poor saps," he gestured around to the several techs who had taken notice of the spectacle, "Throw our guts up before an operation? That's just cruel to us."

"Ass," Elliot heard the love of his life growl before stealing a kiss to his jaw with a whisper, "Tonight." she turned and marched back into the Pelican before he could reply. So, he stood there and slowly a large grin split his face before he turned back to Marcus with a small scowl.

"Man, I should smack you so hard right now," Elliot raised his hand as if to do so, but then smiled and patted his friend's bicep. "But I won't because you're like my brother. Now lets get aboard this bird, get that freighter and earn our bread and butter."

"Hell yeah!" He and Marcus turned and moved into the Pelican, they sat next to each other and waited for the others to get in and sit down. "And bro, I have to say, how come you haven't given Angela that ring yet?"

That question brought a blush to Elliot's face. "It's not the right moment! I'm waiting!" he hissed to his friend, "Where did that even come from?"

"I dunno," Marcus shrugged. "You just had it this morning and you've been holding onto it for a month now, come on. You two been together for what… three years now? I think you can take that big leap."

Elliot sighed lowly and hung his head. He loved Angela dearly, hell, she'd saved his ass as much as he saved hers and he damn well knew he wanted to marry that woman, but how could he with all that was happening nowadays? Covenant glassings, war against the UNSC and just keeping up with current events was time consuming. They were lucky to spend a full night together at this point.

"I'm just… waiting for things to settle down around here before I drop that on her, alright?"

Marcus shrugged again. "Alright, brother, your call." he didn't speak after that. The other teams stepped onto the Pelican until it was filled with twelve armed-to-the-teeth insurrectionists. The engines flare to life and the bay was evacuated so it could be depressurized for take off, after five minutes the air was vented to other areas of the ship before the doors opened below them.

The Pelican dropped down into space, then it rumbled forward towards the UNSC Freighter that was on course to the colony below on the planet they had been watching for three days. As they approached the speakers began to broadcast the Aurora's greeting to them.

"_Attention UNSC freighter _Cakewalk_, this is the United Rebel Front Heavy Frigate _Aurora_. We have you in out sights and our weapons are hot, come to full stop and allow the approaching Pelican to board your ship and take the supplies we deem necessary or we will blast you into atoms and your communications are being jammed. Am I clear?"_

Elliot waited for it, give it a second.

"_This is the Captain of the UNSC _Cakewalk_, we are evacuating the cargo bay and preparing to receive your Pelican. We will be locking the bay doors so they cannot leave the bay_." The man's voice was strained. Elliot could picture his grit teeth and red face before the com closed.

"Alright boys," Elliot called to his guys. "We're clear, lets go in and get our presents."

They cheered and seven minutes later Angela spoke over the speakers that they were entering the Cakewalk's cargo bay and with a small shudder they were attached to the magnetic clamp. "It's pressurized," She spoke and lowered the Pelican's rear hatch. "Fall out boys."

Elliot was fist off onto the deck with his BR55 raised in case it was a trap. It wasn't, the entire bay was empty sides the large crates of various goods inside them stacked neat and orderly, had to give it to the UNSC. They were fantastic crate stackers. "Alright, Marcus… remember, this run rations and ammunition take priority over guns, got it?" He turned to his friend.

"Yeah," Marcus replied and moved forward with three others to scope out the crates content listings and to scan them for any radioactive materials since the UNSC sometimes placed FENRIS or SHIVA warheads in their weapons shipments in the hopes the Insurrectionists would take one of them onto their ship or base to get a nasty surprise.

Elliot took three others and moved to the other end of the bay to scan those crates. He pulled out a Geiger counter and lifted it to the crates he passed, thoroughly passing it over each of them as he went along the stacks, it paid to be thorough here when the fate of the Aurora hung in the balance. Last thing he wanted was to end up like the Destroyer _Georgia_ nine years back when they took a FENRIS bomb into their launch bay because the boarding team half-assed their job which cost them a powerful ship and all three hundred and thirty seven personnel aboard it.

He stopped when he reached the end of another stack, turned on his heel and repeated the same route to scan them again just to be sure there wasn't anything. This continued until he stopped between two stacks of crates where he pulled out a single FENRIS tactical nuke and set it down before nodding to the two others with him. Marcus called from the other side of the bay.

"Elliot! I got Armored Piercing rounds over here!"

"Coming!" Elliot handed his Geiger counter to the man behind him and told him to continue before he left off to see his friend's find. And boy was he surprised when there were four large crates secured together with each marked big white letterings saying "Armor piercing. Handle with care!" on their sides. "Whoa," he whistled slowly.

Marcus grinned and nodded, "I know! It's beautiful! Four large crates of this, each holding anywhere between four or five thousand rounds for our rifles? I say this is a must!"

Elliot agreed whole heartedly, this was a good find indeed. "Yeah, it's clean?" he raised a brow.

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, made sure of it… three times in fact! Ain't no _Georgia_ happening today," he grinned. "Just good luck for us today!"

"Yeah," Elliot agreed with a nod. "Attach this one and the two crates over there," he turned and pointed to two other crates across the bay. "They're good rations, may as well take two and save us another month of food duty."

Marcus and the others on the team agreed and they set to work dragging the crates over to the Pelican's magnetic towing clamps, it could carry a heavy load so there wasn't any worry of losing the packages.

"Power it up, Angela!" Marcus called to the Pelican while he and three others lifted the last crate up to the last clamp. It hummed softly before the crate jerked up into the clamp with a clang. Marcus sighed and said, "Man, they just heavier and heavier!" He grinned slightly at Elliot. "Boss is going to love this haul!"

Elliot nodded and eyed the bay one last time before he spotted something curious. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the camera in the upper corner of the bay staring right at them, it focused on him and he turned away from it, they were likely trying to run facial matches on everyone here for any of the UNSC's most wanted Innies.

He turned back to it with his BR55 raised. He sighted it through the four times magnification scope. He thumbed the fire selector and switched his weapon to single shot mode then took out the camera in a single shot, he lowered his weapon to see his surprised team. "What?" he smirked dryly, "I'm camera shy."

In truth, he just did it because the camera belonged to the UNSC and he loved the idea that he probably just cost their outfit a good few hundred credits for a new camera. He slung his rifle onto his back and raised his hand, "Alright, people! We're done here. Mount up."

They nodded and grabbed their weapons and moved to the Pelican. They stepped inside and took their seats again, congratulating each other. "Angela, close the hatch!" He turned to the others, giving them each proud look, "And good work again everyone."

The Pelican lifted off when they bay doors opened after the room had been vented of atmosphere and soon enough they were back on their way to the _Aurora_. Halfway there Elliot pulled out a single detonator from his side pocket and held it up, "Last part of the job." he said darkly.

Marcus turned to his friend, his eyes sparked with worry when he saw the detonator. "Are we far enough away?"

"Yeah," Elliot replied, "The ship will take the brunt of it anyways." he looked out the viewing window to the freighter after standing up, he stared long and hard at it with burning fury for several moments before whispering. "For my mother and all the other colonies you let burn."

He pressed the button.

The _Cakewalk_ started up its engines to move along…then the hull surrounding the loading back melted away to reveal a bright white light that engulfed the ship from view with its intensity. When it cleared the Cakewalk was now a small debris field in the blackness of space.

"Man," Marcus muttered behind him, "You're scary sometimes."

Elliot didn't turn away from the viewing window, away from the scene he had created. He stared intently, unblinking and silent before he finally he tore his gaze away and took his seat again.

"Yeah," he mumbled and closed his eyes with a deep breath. "Whatever."

**End of chapter IV**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

**September 13, 2545. (Military Calendar) 0600 Hours.  
Epsilon Eridani System, Eridanus II Star System. Heavy Frigate **_**Aurora**_**.  
**Elliot stared at the sleeping face of the love of his life as they lay together in their single bed, not that they minded the closeness as it could get rather cold at night in their room. He had woken a few minutes ago when he got a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen and he couldn't shake the feeling whenever he tried to fall back into slumber despite how tired he still was.

Finally deciding to give up on the venture he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Angela's forehead and moved out from under the covers. He found his clothes near the bed and quickly dressed himself in his pants, socks and loose shirt and left their room to wonder the halls aimlessly like he always did when he couldn't sleep. With a yawn he pressed a keypad and the door hissed open for him and he stepped out into the chilly hallway.

He ignored the chill as it woke him further before he stretched out his arms and decided his first stop would be the armory and see if Walter was being the early bird today.

He turned a corner and proceeded down the corridor, he noted how empty they were but then again it was six in the morning and people wouldn't be getting up until another two to three hours more so he would probably have the shooting range down at the armory to himself for awhile to keep his aim sharp.

Elliot smiled to himself, today had been a great day so far. The Captain had been rather impressed with their haul from the UNSC Freighter since their ships stock of Armor Piercing ammunition was falling low and the food rations would mean they wouldn't have to spend credits or raid another merchant ship for theirs for roughly a month meaning Elliot had won him and his team some rest and relaxation.

He passed down two more corridors and an elevator ride before he arrived to the doors of the armory. He tapped the key and the door slid open to reveal the wide, low ceiling room that was the Aurora's armory. He stepped inside and looked to the requisitions window where Walter usually sat when he was on duty and Elliot's surprise he wasn't there, but the door was unlocked and that someone who had clearance was here.

He moved over to the window and peaked inside. His eyes widened and he stepped back in shock. On the floor beside his chair lay Walter Berlios with a bullet hole through his forehead and a pool of his own blood around his head.

Elliot turned and ran to the communications pad beside the door and practically slammed the intercom to the bridge. "Captain! Captain! It's Walter! He's dead in the Armo-"

A fiery explosion from behind the Requisitions window sent him flying, the room spun for several seconds in slow motion before he hit the wall and darkness took him.

* * *

**20 minutes earlier…**

Darius slid through the shadows of the Aurora Heavy-Frigate like he were a shadow himself. His M7/SOCOM clutched in one hand while his combat knife was gripped in the other. He stopped and crouched still as a statue when someone passed him in the corridor towards the crew barracks. The man had dusty blonde hair and sharp blue eyes that held a bitterness Darius knew well, the man passed him by completely unaware of the Spartan.

When he turned the corner Darius was off again.

He ran the mission plan through his head again even though he was the one who had planned it. Spartan Team Valor had stowed away on the Cakewalk knowing it would be the target for a raid by the Insurrectionists since it was unescorted and due to the sector it was passing they had a good chance it would be the Aurora that would be raiding it. The Aurora had been raiding merchant ships and unescorted UNSC vessels in this sector for the last nine months with great success and with the war happening none of the other Spartan teams or even ODSTs could be spared to hunt it down.

But ever since Beta-5 had gotten their prisoner to sing they had ordered the capture of the Aurora's NavData since the Prisoner had spat out knowledge of an Insurrectionist nuclear stockpile hidden somewhere here in the system that the Aurora may have visited three or four times and since they didn't believe their ship would be captured they probably never purged the data of the stockpiles location.

So Valor had been sent, stowed away on the Freighter and used additional air tanks to extend their armor's armor air supply from two hours to a full seven hours, eleven if they switched to low breathing mode and had stowed away on the hull of the Pelican when they left the Cakewalk. When they reached the Frigate he and the rest of Valor had thrust themselves into the bay to get there faster than the Pelican since the bay had to be pressurised before anyone could enter, then they slid into the shadows of the bay.

They waited there for hours until the ship quieted down enough that they could leave and initiate the next phase of their plan; The sneaking phase, which consisted of each member of Valor moving to a specific location and planting charges to prepare for Phase Three, the Assault phase. Darius' target was the main crew barracks, Riley was tasked with Communications, Micheal had the reactor, William had the Armory and Miranda was on her way to the bridge to neutralize it.

He imagined they were almost done since he himself had reached the barracks. Glancing around briefly he reached behind his back and pulled a pair of C12 Shaped Charges from his satchel. He planted them both on the wall next to the barracks before activating the detonator. He commed his team.

"Darius here, I've set the charges. Status?" he whispered.

"I'm good here, boss," William replied just as quietly. "Had to neutralize the guy on duty."

Darius expected as much. "Communications is ready to go down. I'm also monitoring their com traffic, pretty silent." Riley said.

"My charges are set to shut down the reactor," Micheal chuckled. "Micro EMP charges, should knock it out good."

"Miranda here, currently neutralizing the bridge," There was a burp of suppressed M7 fire. "Done, Bridge secure. When do we get this party started?"

"Soon," Darius replied as he made his way back down the corridor he had come from until he reached a safe distance from the charge. Now, the assault Phase began. "On my mark, detonate charges." He waited.

Four green lights winked on his HUD.

He raised the detonator. "Mark!" He pressed the Button and the hall filled with a bright gold light and across the ship three more thuds reverberated through the hull. "Engage!" Darius raised his M7/SOCOM and gripped his knife again while he moved to the corner of the hall that lead back to the main barracks.

He turned it and raised his M7. The hallway was a mess of fire, melted and shredded metal and multiple of the lights had been destroyed only allowing the flickering fires to provide lighting. And several people screamed inside the barrack in agony, others were moaning and a few were barking out orders to evacuate the wounded.

Darius moved forward in a small jog and stopped at the edge of hole that the charge had punched inward into the main barracks. He peaked inside and saw almost twenty or so people, four were on fire and being patted out by their able bodies fellows while others lay in their beds or on the floor dead by the shrapnel.

He stepped into view. Two people noticed him and with cold efficiency he opened fire, spraying down five closely packed men before he ducked behind the wall again when the only two people in the room armed with handguns began to pour inaccurate and hasty shots his way.

He waited until he heard their weapons click empty before he burst from cover and put them both down with three round bursts to their chest. They went down gasping. Darius moved into the main barracks, some of the injured reached for their own handguns with weak shaky hands while others just watched helplessly as a fully MJOLNIR armored Spartan strolled into the center of the room.

He ejected the magazine from his weapon, reloaded and took aim at the man who had reached his handgun and was firing at Darius but missing due to his shaking, he struggled to try and steady his hand. Darius put one in his skull, turned to the man on the floor next to him who was struggling for breath with a piece of metal through his right breast.

Darius shot him in the head and moved along the room executing each man and woman with a single headshot until after twenty-nine seconds they were all dead. He ejected his spent magazine again and reached for a new one on his belt.

He was pelted with Assault rifle fire the moment his spent magazine clattered to the floor and he jumped behind a turned over cot when one round hit home and pierced the armor plating on his right bicep, thankfully the ballistic gel layer beneath that had stopped the round from going further. But it still hurt.

"Monster!" A woman screamed in fury. He peaked over his cover to briefly see her red hair and hate filled eyes before she fired her MA2B at his head, surprisingly she was an accurate shot and wearing a flight suit.

She opted to spray the cot and the rounds easily pierced through bedding forcing Darius lower to the floor. Her magazine clattered to the floor and raised himself from his cover while bringing his M7 up only to receive a single round across the his faceplate.

He ducked down on instinct while she loaded a fresh magazine into her weapon fluidly before resuming her shooting. He growled in irritation before he burst from his cover and leapt through the hole in the wall out into hallway. He turned and fired a suppressing burst before turning and moving down the corridor to attempt to get a flanking position on her.

He got halfway down before she appeared in the hallway behind him and opened fire in short three round bursts, he felt a round dig into his inner left thigh where a round pierced the ballistic gel layer. He jumped forward and slid onto the floor on his back while he blind fired his M7 down the hall.

This woman was really well trained. Few could force a Spartan on the defensive. He commed his team, "Valor, Status?"

"Generator is down. Ship is running on backup power, expect it to go down in two, maybe three minutes? Security teams are currently engaging me." Micheal replied while gunfire sounded through his com. "That was close… gotta go boss, need to concentrate."

Miranda signalled him with a green light. As did Riley, "I'm good down here. This deck is relatively cleared." William said. "Sides one lucky bugger who locked himself in a maintenance passage."

That done, Darius returned his attention to the situation at hand. He rolled to the side to avoid the hail of gunfire from the woman giving chase, he waited a heartbeat then turned the corner with his M7 spitting out a longer burst of rounds. The woman had been reloading and didn't expect the surprise rush and the smaller rounds tore into her upper body.

She fell back gasping, gurgling blood a moment later while it pooled on her clothing. Darius put one in her forehead, turned continued moving through the barracks, in moments he had cleared the rest of the barracks easily. The main detonations had killed most of the crew as it was, the others were stumbling in the dark. Valor had made short work of them.

Only when the ship was dead in space did they move to regroup in the bridge of the ship where Miranda was already working to extract the data from the NavComputer by using her armor to supply it with a small charge for its operation, in moments she held up a small data chip, "Here it is."

Darius took it, slid it into an compartment on his armor and ordered they move out while he called for extraction. "Echo-Niner. This is Valor, we've got the NavData and need extraction. Ship is dead in space." he reported.

"Echo Niner copies all, Valor, We're on route, be on station in T-minus two minutes." the com shut off.

Valor got to the Hanger and waited. Another mission successful, with this data they'd hopefully track down more Innie locations to be swept up by UNSC so they could concentrate more fully on the Covenant instead of this ridiculous infighting that should have been put down long enough ago.

Darius took a breath, "Well done, Valor."

**End of chapter V**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed thus far! I appreciate the feedback.  
**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

**September 26, 2545. (Military Calendar) 1730 Hours.  
Epsilon Eridani System, High Orbit over Reach. Orbital Training Facility **_**Wilhelm**_**.  
**The _Wilhelm_ Orbital Training Facility was truly something when visited the first few times as it always seemed to be up to date on everything in the UNSC that concerned weapons, explosives and training programs. Though it specialized in Zero-G training for NavSpecWar to help ready soldiers for missions out in hard vacuum or a more horrific scenario that should one be launched out into the blackness of space due to some incident aboard a station or a ship the "Dos" and "Don'ts" of the situation. Personally Darius followed his own rules in that situation.

"_Have your Armor's Failsafe detonation codes handy_."

And as he floated through a Zero-G atrium in full armor he felt the need to recite his suits failsafe codes _just_ as a reminder that he remembered them when he first donned this armor of green plates and black bodysuit. The Atrium itself was large, roughly the size of three tennis courts placed side by side. The upper skylight, or space view as some called it, was the size of a pelican covered in reinforced shatterproof glass. It gave them a nice view of the fortress world of Reach below. A truly stunning sight that he could not embrace at the moment.

Several free loading metal platforms were lazily rifting about the Atrium as well to provide cover while several others were connected magnetically to the wall for more stable footing, however those weren't particularly well stocked in good cover so he avoided those in favor of free floating slowly from platform to platform with his M7 Caseless Sub-Machine Gun at the ready.

His armor also sported a T11 Thruster pack for added mobility should he need to make a quick, but noisy, escape if he were to come under fire. However he knew that using it would light him up on the motion sensor so he simply moved along the old fashioned way.

He landed softly on a floating platform and when he placed his feet on the metallic surface his magboots stuck to it to give him traction as if he were on solid dirt. He carefully crouched, if he moved to quickly his momentum could send the platform he was on into a noticeable spin that would attract attention.

Darius took a breath and slowly turned his head to scan his surroundings. Looking for any sign of his team so he could attempt to take them out before they did the same to him, That was the objective of this little "game' of theirs for today since they had been given some downtime since the last assignment until the brass had something new for them.

A free-for-all in zero-G using splatter rounds. He had to admit, it was a new element for him but apparently the rest of team Valor had done this same game two times before with their original leader so they were more accustomed to the environment than he was and he knew Miranda took humor in that alone.

Five minutes and thirty-seven seconds had passed since the game began and he hadn't caught a glimpse of the others yet. He thought he had seen William two minutes in but the sniper had disappeared before Darius could get a decent firing angle, now it had become a game of stealth and patience.

His motion sensor got something at his eight-o-clock twenty-two meters out. He resisted the urge to "snap" to the direction and instead turned slowly to face direction the blip had appeared with his M7 raised. He stared and waited for a target to present itself to him.

One of the platforms slowly rolled and he caught one armored boot disappearing behind it. A target at last! Darius grinned slightly and disengaged his magboots the moved forward, just slow enough that the motion sensor wouldn't read him. But fast enough that he wouldn't miss the target this time.

He reached another platform and his hand holding the M7 slowly swept the area. A platform shifted to his right and it turned over to reveal a crouching William with his M7 trained on Darius. The sniper didn't hesitate to pulled the trigger and let loose a three round burst.

Darius jerked his arm and the platform spun with his momentum, the splatter rounds painted the surface under it a bright green before he kicked off of it and sent the platform towards the sniper, causing both to collide and send the sniper off to another platform in a tumble. Darius raised his M7 and returned fire.

Two rounds splattered a platform that floated by while two others painted Williams left shin before he disappeared behind another platform. Darius risked it and fired a counter burst from his thruster pack to stop himself, He kept his M7 ready and waiting to see if the sniper wanted more.

When he didn't appear after several seconds Darius lowered his weapon, then took five rounds to the back courtesy of Miranda who commed him. "Got ya, sir!" she closed the channel and Darius turned to try and get her back only to see she was gone already behind whatever cover she had used to get the drop on him.

"Clever girl," he muttered before kicking off another platform onto the "floor" and moving towards the exit of the room. He glanced overhead, sat William sitting on platform briefly before two more obscured his vision, he shrugged and made it to the doors. Tapped the key and stepped out of the Atrium into the pressure chamber.

The room hissed and he felt the natural weight of gravity take hold on him. Another thing he liked about the Wilhelm station was that it was one of the few station to successfully incorporate the reverse engineered Covenant Artificial Gravity tech. Though still in testing on ships it worked well enough here, though some sections felt heaver than others the personnel sometimes said.

He stepped through the next set of doors and into the "lobby" of the atrium, there sat Riley with her arms crossed and M7 attached to her thigh. Despite the helmet he could tell she was miffed, "William?" he guessed once he saw the patch of green splatter on the side of helmet.

"Yeah," she sighed and stood, flexing her arms. "Who got you?"

"Miranda," Darius shook his head, "I almost got William, but she interfered."

"Ah," Riley nodded slightly and shrugged, "She's opportunistic during these games. She often waits until someone has a firefight before taking a shot, always works too." she paused to glance over to the doors when William stepped through. "Miranda?"

"No," he replied and showed them his bright green painted rear of his helmet, "Micheal."

The pair nodded at him in understanding. Now it was Miranda and Micheal alone in a free for all, they understood they would be awhile and so Darius suggested, "Mess?"

They nodded.

By the time they reached their barracks on the station Darius heard his com give an alert. He sighed and gestured to the others that he was getting commed, they quieted down and stared at their leader while he said, "Spartan-B254 here."

"Spartan, you and your team are to report to briefing room number eleven on level three, you have a high priority message coming in from CentCom," the Stations commanding officer, a First Lieutenant Johnson, relayed.

"Sir, we'll be there shortly," Darius closed the com and turned to Riley and William. "Mess will have wait, briefing." he watched their shoulders stiffen, "Riley, com Miranda and Micheal. Tell them we have a briefing ASAP and to meet us in briefing room eleven on level three."

"Sir!" Riley nodded.

Darius, Micheal and Riley proceeded out of their barracks, down the hall and into the elevator. They descended two floors before they reached the third floor and they proceeded briskly to the briefing room.

Two MPs stood at attention when they saw the Spartans approach. "Chief, sir!" they saluted.

Darius returned the salute. "At ease, we have a briefing waiting for us in there, care to open it up?"

"No problem sir," one of the MPs turned around tapped a key. The doors hissed open.

Darius nodded then proceeded inside with Riley and William. They took their seats in the well lit room around a circular holotank and waited for the rest of Valor to arrive for the briefing. Two minutes later Miranda and Micheal arrived, took seats and like clockwork the holotank took the shape of their Beta-5 liaison's head. Commander Lynch, which Darius doubted was his real name.

He spoke in that same cool tone Darius had come to know well in these briefings. "Spartans, a new mission has just come to the table," he began the briefing. "As of thirty-six hundred hours ago, Covenant activity near the Lambda Serpentis system spiked. This is one of the few times that the Covenant has taken an interest in their conquered systems and ONI sent the Prowler Daybreak to investigate the system." The Commander's head suddenly turned into a planet.

"In twenty-five thirty-five Covenant forces discovered the UNSC colony Jericho VII, the initial invasion force quickly overwhelmed the small UNSC defense fleet," The hologram shifted and showed seven UNSC ships, frigates and one cruiser, engaging a Covenant force of roughly twelve ships. CCS-class cruisers and one Supercarrier. Darius knew from various source videos that such a force was more than a match for a UNSC fleet three times the size of the defending forces own.

"After crushing the defense fleet, the Covenant moved to the planet's surface to begin slaughtering the general population and search for any astro navigational computers they could find the large capital cities." Another image appeared, this time of Covenant Elites and Jackals moving into a university shooting any who got in their way. Police forces or civilian alike were cut down in a hail of plasma. "Five hours after that, the retaliation fleet sent by High Command arrived on scene with Spartans to try and repel the invasion fleet." This time the image morphed into a UNSC fleet of twenty-two ships, mostly frigates and heavy frigates facing off against the Covenant.

"Though Ground operations against the Covenant were a stunning success. The battle above was going sour, three hours after their arrival Covenant reinforcements were inbound and the fleet had to recall all operational assets and jump to Slipspace. The planet was then glassed," the image switched to the view of Jericho VII as Covenant cruisers flew in low orbit firing their massive energy projectors to the surface. "This is the last video captured from the Destroyer _Resolute_ before she jumped."

Darius watched as the Covenant took another world from humanity. Burned civilians to nothing but ash and reduced a good, healthy garden world to nothing but a burned wasteland. Just like they had done to his own homeworld way back when before he joined the Spartan-III program to get revenge for his brother, sister, mother and father. He felt a cold anger swell in his chest, but he checked his emotions. This wasn't the time.

Judging from the air of the other members of Valor. They too shared his sentiment on the matter.

Lynch continued. "Now after a decade of inactivity they've suddenly decided to conduct a mining operation on Jericho VII," he turned his gaze over each of them briefly, "Your mission is to infiltrate the Covenant mining operation and find out what exactly they are searching for on the glasslands of Jericho VII."

Darius blinked in surprise. That was an interesting mission indeed, few assignments had let them leave the Epsilon Eridani System and now this one was taking them all the way out to the Lambda Serpentis system where they could be conducting a stealth infiltration and intelligence gathering operation in hostile territory? That was both exciting and daunting at the same time.

"Sir," he raised a hand. "What are our exfiltration and infiltration methods if the Covenant activity in the system is busy?"

That was the biggest concern on Darius' mind at the moment. How could he and his team get to the planet behind enemy lines if they were moving about around the system, they'd be spotted in any conventional ship unless it was a Prowler class vessel, even then they'd need a way to ground and up again that was equally as stealthy. Then they'd need an operation schedule, how much time did they have to complete their mission before they had to dust off? What if their craft is compromised or if they are? These questions had to be answered.

"The prowler _Daybreak_ is on standby to transport you and your team the operation system," Lunch replied easily. "As for infiltration you'll be inserted groundside via B81 Stealth craft, it will allow you to land planetside without detection at night. It will also be your extraction craft to return to the _Daybreak_. While will be waiting for you at these precise coordinates for exactly thirty-four hours."

The image morphed again to a blinking strobe over the planet in orbit indicating where the _Daybreak_ would be waiting for Valor team for extraction. "Beyond that, however, you're on your own."

Darius expected as much and from the air of non-surprise he knew his team did as well. "Understood, sir. But if the Covenant glassed the planet, is the atmosphere dangerous?"

"Normally, yes, but thankfully after a decade the air is breathable, slightly toxic, but breathable. Your armor should shield you from that downside however with the air recyclers and filters." Lunch replied with a shrug in his words, "This mission is very valuable to ONI so failure is, as always, not an option. Lynch out." the uplink closed.

Micheal was the first to speak after the briefing was over. "Drop behind enemy lines in enemy space into an enemy camp on a tight schedule or we're left for dead, huh?" he scoffed. "Sounds like a cakewalk."

"It does, doesn't?" Replied the ever sarcastic Miranda, "They couldn't have given us something harder? Like… taking out a Covenant cruiser with a slingshot?"

"Or a supercarrier with a Slipspace bomb?" William shook his head with a chuckle.

"What commander would agree to _that_?" Riley blinked.

"Not a sane one, I tell ya, those drive cores are expensive,"

"Cut the chatter," Darius said and stood up from his seat. "Valor, move down to the armory, load up for fast hitting tactics groundside, C12 shaped charges, flashbangs and the like," he said to them as he sighed softly. "Now, lets move out. We have a mission to prepare for."

"Sir!" They saluted and filed out of the briefing room to head down to the armory.

**End of chapter VI  
**

**Yeah, I haven't updated... in, well, a loooong time. Sorry, just know i'm not dead, not yet. thanks to those who reviewed and to those who further review.**


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